


When Everything Else Crumbles

by CaptainLeBubbles



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 12:30:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9440564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLeBubbles/pseuds/CaptainLeBubbles
Summary: Sportacus should have thought twice before flirting with the new guy in town.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading some of my old posts and remembered I meant to write this one. It also has references to other concepts and headcanons that have been floating around.

It was far too early to be awake.

Sportacus had already left, kissing Robbie goodbye before taking off for his morning run, leaving Robbie snuggled up in the cosy burrito of blankets and quilts he'd rolled himself into as soon as Sportacus had slipped out of bed. Robbie had mumbled sleepy goodbyes and listened for the sound of the airship undocking before trying to go back to sleep.

That was an hour ago. Sleep had been unforthcoming, and the body heat Sportacus had left behind in the blanket burrito had finally cooled, so Robbie decided he might as well get up. He still had an hour or so before the kids got up, and he needed to figure out what plan he was going to concoct for the day. True, he could wait for them to start their own game, and figure out something from there, but sometimes he felt like getting a headstart on them.

He wandered slowly through his lair, eying this machine and that, wondering what schemes he could plot. It seemed strange to him, if he stopped and thought about it, that even after a relationship of several months Sportacus had never asked him to give up his villainy. In fact at times he even seemed to encourage it, complimenting Robbie on his costumes and traps before ultimately foiling them. On the other hand, Sportacus was the most supportive and encouraging hero ever, it only made sense that his nature would extend even to his villain.

Robbie stopped in front of his bookshelf. It was dusty and oft-ignored; apart from the few books of magic from his youth, he'd rarely had much use for anything on it. Most of the books _came_ from his youth, in fact: as a child, adults had always insisted on giving him books to get him interested in reading. It didn't matter to them that the books weren't kinds of books he was _interested_ in reading, they assumed that if they forced enough onto him he would read them for a lack of anything else and fall in love with the idea.

He ran his fingers over the spines thoughtfully. He really should throw them out; he could use the shelf space, and it wasn't like he was getting any use out of them anyway. Then his hand stilled. He traced the title on the binding he was looking at. “A History Of Candy”. It put him in mind of Ziggy, who would probably devour a book about candy as heartily as he devoured a bowl of taffies. Robbie tapped the spine slowly, a thought coming into his mind.

Ziggy probably  _would_ like the candy book. And Stephanie- yes, Stephanie would  _love_ the book about the girl who wanted to be a dancer. The book of ghost stories would delight Trixie. He started tracing the books again, looking more closely at the titles. Did he have anything Pixel and Stingy would enjoy? What about the mayor and Ms. Busybody?

The plan was coming together in Robbie's mind. He started taking the books down, brushing the dust off of them. His nose twitched; he sneezed, and then dropped the books as he straightened up, one finger held dramatically in the air.

“I have... an _idea_!” he shouted, at no one.

-/-

Robbie walked thoughtfully around the ice cream stand. He could repurpose it for his plan easily enough, and have everything ready by the time the kids woke up.

It took very little time to get the ice cream stand redone with bookshelves all around it. The books were shelved just as quickly, and then, it was  _disguise time!_ Robbie dropped out of frame and reappeared inside the stand, dressed in a burgundy and maroon sweatervest, a pale yellow button-up, horn-rimmed glasses, and dress slacks that had a perfect crease on each side. One last touch- he snapped his fingers, and the sign dropped down.

Just in time, too- he could see the kids converging in front of their houses, trailing down the road to the playground. He cleared his throat. Showtime!

“Free books!” he called. “Freeee boooooks!”

That got their attention. They gave a delighted shout and hurried over.

-/-

Sportacus loved running through LazyTown in the early morning. The footroads made the perfect obstacle course, and the peacefulness of early dawn let him center his mind as much as his body, to get it ready for the day.

He should bring Robbie up here sometime, he thought, doing a somersault over a wall. Not to run- he would love for Robbie to go running with him, of course, but that would be a long time down the road- but just to. Enjoy it. The peace and quiet of early morning, he'd probably like that.

Sportacus vaulted over a bench, then came to a halt to catch his breath and get a drink of water. He sipped on it thoughtfully. It was about time for the kids to come out and start playing- he should go see what they were up to, see if they had any fun things in mind for their day.

He found them in the square, around the ice cream, and was concerned for just a moment before he realized that they weren't eating ice cream but reading, and Stephanie was even munching on an apple while she read.

(Not that there was anything wrong with sitting around eating ice cream, it was just so early in the morning, so soon after breakfast.)

He looked at the ice cream stand- ah, that explained it. There was a sign on that the said “free books!!” in big, calligraphied letters, and there inside was Robbie, in some kind of librarian disguise, talking to Pixel over a book that was open on the counter between them. His glasses were sliding down his nose, and the sleeves of his button-up had been rolled up to reveal his forearms, and he looked absolutely  _ravishing_ . 

Sportacus's mustache twitched. He liked most of Robbie's costumes; this one he immediately bumped up to the top of his list. It was a good one. It was flattering to all of Robbie's best features, and it didn't hide his identity. Some of his costumes were too far removed from his Robbie, and while Sportacus could appreciate them for themselves, he liked the ones that were very much  _Robbie_ better.

“Hi guys!” Sportacus said, coming over to join everyone. He caught Robbie's eye as he did, and winked, pleased to notice the pink blush that touched Robbie's neck when he did. He turned his attention to the kids. “What are you up to?”

“We're reading the books Mr. Alexander gave us,” Pixel said. He held up his book. “See? He's got a book on early computers!”

“ _And_ a book on _candy_!” Ziggy piped up excitedly, holding up the book in his hands, a big, colorful book with pictures of candy all over it. Sportacus grinned at him.

“That's good!” he said, sweeping his gaze over all of them. “Reading is good, it expands your mind and shows you lots more about the world! In fact...” His gaze landed on, aha, “Mr. Alexander”. Clever. He folded his arms in a way he knew Robbie found irresistible and came closer. “Do you have anything _I_ might like?”

Robbie tore his gaze away from Sportacus's arms and caught his eye. Sportacus winked and leaned in a little closer, and Robbie winked back. Good, Robbie knew he knew it was him.

“I _might_ have something,” Robbie said. “Let's see...” He popped out of the stand in a quick, fluid motion that Sportacus knew the kids wouldn't have noticed, and leaned over the shelves. Sportacus enjoyed the moment to admire his form- so nice- before he stood up with a book in his hand. “Why don't you try this one?” he suggested, and leaned into Sportacus's personal space to hand it to them.

-/-

Unnoticed by the two men, the kids were watching the exchange in growing horror. They could forgive Mr. Alexander for flirting with Sportacus, as he had no way of knowing that Sportacus was in a relationship, but Sportacus? How could he be so  _disloyal_ ? They thought he  _loved_ Robbie! And here he was, flirting shamelessly with the new guy in town!

The kids gathered in a huddle a little way away.

“We have to put a stop to this,” Stephanie said, to a chorus of nods.

“Yeah,” Stingy agreed. “Sportacus is _Robbie's_.”

“Mr. Alexander doesn't know that,” Trixie pointed out. “We should tell him.”

“What about Sportacus?” Ziggy asked. “ _He_ knows!”

“You guys talk to Mr. Alexander,” Stephanie said. “I'll talk to Sportacus.”

They agreed, and headed over. Sportacus and Mr. Alexander were standing entirely too close together, talking quietly about the book Sportacus was holding in one hand. Stephanie grabbed his other hand. “Sportacus, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Ah- sure!” He gave Mr. Alexander a reassuring look. “I'll be right back,” and let Stephanie lead him away, out of earshot to the wall. Meanwhile, the kids clustered around Mr. Alexander.

“You kids want more books?” he asked. They shook their heads as one. He frowned. Had they seen through his disguise?

“We have to talk to you,” Pixel said. “About Sportacus. He's _taken_.”

The others all nodded their agreement. “He has a  _boyfriend_ ,” Trixie said. “So you can stop flirting with him!”

-/-

By the wall, Sportacus was staring down at the angriest Stephanie he had ever seen. He was genuinely starting to fear for his life, or at least for his kneecaps, because he knew Stephanie had a mean kick and wouldn't put it past her to use it on him, the way she was glaring at him.

“What are you _doing_?” she demanded, voice barely above a hiss. He blanched.

“Ah- getting something to read?”

“You're flirting!”

Ah,

Oh dear.

“Stephanie-”

“Does Robbie really mean so little to you?” Stephanie had gone from mad to distressed, now, she looked on the verge of tears. “I thought you loved him!”

“I do- Stephanie-”

“Then why are you flirting with Mr. Alexander? Just because Robbie's not here-”

“Oh for crying out loud!” They both looked up in shock at the shout that came from “Mr. Alexander”, who had straightened up in the middle of the children. He ripped his glasses off of his face. “It's _me_ , you ninnies!”

“Robbie Rotten!”

“Oh that- wait...” Ziggy frowned. “So... you... _aren't_ Mr. Alexander?”

“No!”

“And Sportacus knew?”

“Of course I knew,” Sportacus said, nudging Stephanie so they could rejoin everyone. “Why would I have been flirting with him if I didn't?”

The kids all looked at one another, then at the ground, shuffling sheepishly. Sportacus knelt in front of them, resting his hands on the shoulders nearest him.

“Listen, kids. I'm really happy that you support my and Robbie's relationship so much. It really means a lot to me.” (Above him, Robbie suddenly went very still.) “I don't know where our relationship will go, but I _hope_ it goes for a long time, and I love that you guys all want the same thing.” (He thought he heard a soft, choked off sob from Robbie.) “But-” He looked at each and every one of them, making sure they were listening. “It's very important that you don't jump to conclusions about grown up relationships. Robbie and I are exclusive, but some relationships are different. Just because someone is in a relationship, doesn't mean they're not allowed to flirt with anyone else.”

He glanced at Robbie, and was surprised to find that tears were shining in his eyes. He stood up quickly. “Robbie? Are you okay?”

“I-” He pressed a hand to his mouth, blinking back the tears, and pressed on. “You all care that much about my feelings?”

He suddenly found himself at the bottom of a pile of children, all trying to hug him at once. “Of course we care!” Stephanie said. “You're part of our family.”

Robbie wiggled out from under the pile and sat up, looking around at all of them. Sportacus squatted behind the kids and grinned at him. He caught Robbie's eye and Robbie smiled, too.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Stephanie would have absolutely gone for his knees if she thought it would help.


End file.
